4
Officials doom NU again
By David Diehl
Staff writer
The Nebraska women’s basketball
team discovered Wednesday night
that free throws aren’t exactly free;
they canJiave a pretty high cost.
Colorado shot 32 free throws and
wiped out a 10-point Comhusker lead
late in the second half en route to a 78
75 come-from-behind victory.
The Cornhuskers had what
seemed to be a safe 70-60 lead with
six minutes to go in the game. The
lead was the biggest of the game for
either squad, and NU had control for
most of die second half.
From that point, however, the
Buffaloes took life out of the Big
Red’s game, scoring 14 points from
the free-throw line during an 18-5 run.
Coach Paul Sanderford said on
the post-game radio show that it might
have been the toughest loss he’s had.
“It’s a game we should have
won,” Sanderford said. “We’re a bet
ter team than Colorado, and we didn’t
put them away.”
But Nebraska found it hard to put
the Buffs away with four players foul
ing out of the game - Charlie Rogers,
i
BUFFALOES 78
HUSKERS75_
Paige Sutton, Casey Leonhart and
Brooke Schwartz
Still, Sanderford said, without
the big players, the team still played
solid defense.
“I thought we did some good
things on defense,” he said. “But
every time they got it in the post it was
two free throws.”
CU went to the line 47 times for
the game, sinking 35 of the shots,
compared with Nebraska which only
shot 15 free throws for the game.
Sinking right along with CU’s
free throws was the Huskers’ position
in the Big 12 Conference standings.
With this three-game losing streak,
they stand tied at fifth with Missouri
at 5-5 in conference and 11-10 over
all.
Nicole Kubik led all scorers for
the game putting in 24 points for the
Huskers. But she didn’t score in the
game’s last eight minutes, and NU
didn’t get much production inside
with three forwards on the bench.
“When Paige Sutton fouled out,”
Sanderford said, “we really missed
I thought we
did some good
things on
defense. But
every time they
got it in the post
it was two free
throws.”
Paul Sanderford
NU women’s basketball coach
her because I thought she gave us
great offense.”
While Sutton and Rogers each
score nine apiece, Leonhardt and
Cisco Gilmore, the others in NU’s
ffontcourt, combined to score only
one point.
For the game, Nebraska made
eight more field goals than the
Buffaloes, outrebounded them and
made more 3-pointers.
Stars to shine aplenty
in Husker Invitational
By Sean Callahan
Staff writer
The closet thing you will see to
the NCAA national indoor track and
field meet is the 26th annual Frank
Sevigne Husker Invite at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center Track on
Feb. 11-12.
This year’s Husker Invite fea
tures more than 40 teams and 900
competitors. Last year’s Husker
Invite had eight participants who
went on to win national indoor
championships.
“Originally, we designed the for
mat of this meet to give athletes a
strong opportunity to get qualified
for the national championships,”
Nebraska Coach Gary Pepin said.
“The stronger the field is or the bet
ter the competition, the more it gives
those people a better chance to help
each other.”
Mark Kostek, die Husker Invite
director, said he spends most of the
year preparing the Held for the meet
that he said Track and Field News
Magazine calls “the finest collegiate
track and field meet in the nation
According to Kostek, the Husker
Invite had the highest attendance of
any other indoor meet in die country
with 4,500 people in attendance at
the Saturday session last year.
Some of the top events, Kostek
said, will be the men’s shot put,
which has a field that features five of
the top six men’s throwers in the
nation.
Nebraska freshman Carl
Myerscough was leading the nation
until last weekend before being over
taken by Jim Roberts of Brigham
Young. Roberts, a junior, will be
throwing at the Husker Invite this
weekend.
“The Saturday shot put and
weight throw is an incredible field of
the top athletes in the United States,”
Please see TRACK 15
Redshirts battle
through boredom
■ Husker players find the the
experience to be a maturing one.
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
Brian Conklin pumps the iron, watches the
endless hours of game tape and pushes himself
to the limit in practice just like every other
Nebraska men’s basketball player.
But he gets nothing in return - except the
satisfaction that his future possibly will be
brighter because of what he is enduring now.
Conklin is a redshirt on this year’s team,
and he will never set foot on the court this sea
son.
Conklin, a near 7-foot giant who weighed
only 205 pounds upon his arrival in Lincoln
this fall, is one of the few athletes who can say
they are part of this rare breed.
He will sit out his freshman season and not
lose a year of eligibility in hopes of gaining
maturity and adding pounds to his lanky
frame.
The Hubbard, Ohio native said sitting out
this season has been his and Nebraska
Basketball Coach Danny Nee’s plan from the
start.
“Nee told me I would redshirt from the
start,” Conklin said. “I could have went other
places and played from the start my freshman
year, but I felt die redshirt was my best option.”
The other places Conklin listed included
Ohio State, Northwestern, Bowling Green,
West Virginia and Penn State.-While Conklin
might have been playing at these other schools
at this very moment, he might want to take
solace in women’s basketball player Melody
Peterson.
Peterson, now a junior at NU, played her
freshman year for Final Four participant
Stanford in 1996-97. Now she regrets not red
shirting.
“1 should have redshirted as a freshman,”
said Peterson, who only played 81 minutes in
23 games for the Cardinals. “I played only like
1.2 minutes per game, and it sucked. I might as
well have redshirted and kept my year of eligi
bility.”
Husker Assistant Coach Randy Roth, who
recruited Conklin, said the plan to redshirt
Conklin w3s in his best interests for die future.
“We presented he and his family with a
plan,” Roth said. “He lacked a year of maturi
Heather Glenboski/DN
ABOVE: MONIQUE WHITFIELD, SENIOR FOR
WARD lor the women’s basketball team, will
bo redshirtlng this season because of an
injury. Redshirts are required to spend the
season on the scout team and act as every
opponent that the Huskers might face.
Mike Warren/DN
RIGHT: CARY COCHRAN, a former redshirt for
the NU basketball team, believes the red
shirt season can be mentally difficult for
seme athletes.
ty, and, to tins point, we lave not wavered from
that plan.
“I think deep down, Brian knew he was
going to be better in his fifth year.”
Conklin said lifting weights, something he
did little of in high school, is crucial to the
Please see REDSESKT15
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